Enjoying Poetry 4º ESO Sara & Mariña

Iván & Blue Lips

I.E.S de Fene English 3rd project Mariña Gándara S. & Sara Permuy B. 4o ESO

Table of contents 1. Introduction…………………………………………………….. 2 2. Our poems………………………………………………………2­3 3. Analyzed poems…………………………...………………….. 3­4 a. Sara’s poem: Iván……………………………………...3­4 4. Analyzed songs………………………………………..…….… 5­7 a. Mariña’s song: Blue Lips………………...…………… 5­7 i. The author………….……...……………..….…. 5 ii.

Content………..……………………………….. 6 iii.

Feelings……………………………………..….6­ 7 5. Our presents…………………………………………………….7­8 a. Sara’s present…………………………………………..7 b. Mariña’s present…………………………………...…...8 6. Conclusion…………………………………………………….. 8 7. Bibliographical references……………………………………. 9

Introduction Our project is about one poem: Iván, written by Sara; and one song: Blue Lips, sang by Regina Spektor. We started this term writing different types of poems (Acrostics, dada poems, haikus and calligrams). We will analyze them objectively and subjectively.

Sara: I selected my poem because it talks about my best friend; Mariña: I chose that song because I discovered it a few months ago represented by some characters that I like, and I simply loved it, even though I could not understand its entire meaning.

Our poems Reading

Farewell

Remembering everything.

Emotions, A lot of sensations, Day by day Imagination, Nothing in my mind, Going to other worlds.

My heart cries for you

Sara P. & Mariña G.

I like potatoes.

They smell and taste very well I swear I love them.

Mariña G.

Why did you choose this sad way?

It’s time to say bye.

When you closed the door I remembered all the dreams That you and I had.

Sara Permuy

Sara P. and Mariña G.

Sara P.

Analyzed poems Sara’s poem: Iván I love you Video games shared together A lot of laughs Never nothing without you I wrote this acrostic with the letters of my best friend’s name because he and I shared a lot of moments together since he was born, as his parents and my parents have been close friends since they were little.

I chose this person to dedicate my poem because I think that my life would be really different without him and I don’t imagine it.

The metric is: 3 7 4 7 When I see my poem I feel good, because I know that he always will stay with me and I with him.

The most important phrase of the poem, for me is the first: I love you, because with this three words I summarized my feelings for him.

I decided to give the present to Iván because I would like to surprise him.

When Iván sees the present, I think (and I hope) that he will love it because today (30/05/2014), he said: I hope I will receive a present as the one my classroom gave to my teacher at the end of the festival in my high school.

Analyzed songs Mariña’s song: Blue Lips He stumbled into faith and thought, "God, this is all, there is?"

The pictures in his mind arose And began to breathe.

And all the gods and all the worlds Began colliding on a backdrop of blue.

Blue lips, blue veins.

He took a step but then felt tired.

He said, "I'll rest a little while".

But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child.

And all the people hurried fast, real fast And no one ever smiled.

And no one saw and no one heard.

They just followed the lead.

The pictures in his mind awoke And began to breed.

They started off beneath the knowledge tree And they chopped it down to make a picket fence And marching along the railroad tracks.

They smiled real wide for the camera lenses As they made it past the enemy lines Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines.

Blue lips, blue veins Blue, the color of our planet From far, far away.

Blue lips, blue veins

Blue, the color of our planet From far, far away.

Blue lips, blue veins Blue, the color of our planet From far, far away.

He stumbled into faith and thought, "God, this is all there is?"

The pictures in his mind arose And began to breathe.

Blue lips, blue veins Blue, the color of our planet From far, far away Blue, the most human color.

Blue, the most human color.

Blue, the most human color.

Blue lips, blue veins Blue, the color of our planet From far, far away.

The author The writer and singer of this song is Regina Borguiz Spektor (known simply as Regina Spektor). Born in Moscow in 1980, she emigrated with her parents to United States because they were Jewish. She has played the piano since she was little, but she can really play the guitar.

Some of her genres of music are jazz, anti­folk and indie folk. She published 11 CDs and worked in some soundtracks, such as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Blue Lips is in the album Far, published on June 23, 2009.

Content The stanzas have usually 6 or 7 lines, with the rhyme scheme ABAB at the end. It has pauses between the chorus and the different parts of the song.

Verbs are in past simple tense; however, the entire topic can be easily identified as an actual one. The song uses not many adjectives and it is centered on actions.

Feelings I think that the song has a lot of different meanings, depending voc on of the part. For example, in the first one:

“He took a step but then felt tired.

He said, "I'll rest a little while".

But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child.

And all the people hurried fast, real fast And no one ever smiled”

It is talking about the people who don’t make the most of their childhood; a

lost childhood. Or the kids who want to grow up without calmly enjoying their lives. But taking into account the chorus and the second part:

“And they chopped it down to make a picket fence And marching along the railroad tracks They smiled real wide for the camera lenses As they made it past the enemy lines Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines.”

It might explain that people is destroying nature ; the Earth where we all live. Maybe the phrase “Blue lips, blue veins, Blue, the color of our planet from far, far away” means that we’re made of our own planet, that we are all connected. Then, there’s a third part:

They smiled real wide for the camera lenses As they made it past the enemy lines Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines.

This part might talk about how weak humans can be.

However, Regina’s songs are usually discussed because they doesn’t have a specific meaning. "[...] I don't sit down with an agenda and go "I'm going to write a song about…", you know? I just start playing a little bit on the piano, and then I start singing a little bit, and then it's over ­ and there's a song. Sometimes, very rarely, I can trace the ancestry of a lyric, [...] But for the most part, it's not really clear even to me. People think that if you can't explain a linear meaning, then the song's meaningless, or that you just put words together because they sound nice. But it's not that either. It feels completely meaningful ­ it all means very exact stuff. I even feel like it's super important to use "a" instead of "the" in some songs, you know? I'll be moving tiny little things around in my mouth, and then I'll get them just right and it sort of freezes ­ and that's fate."1

Our presents Sara’s present I maked this present (Machine of Acrostics) because is a game, and my friend Iván loves the games. This is more funny for him because he doesn’t like poetry.

1

Quote found in Songfacts.

Mariña’s present I had this idea since the beginning of this project. That is another reason why I chose Blue Lips.

I did not think in any person when I thought about it, so I’d like to give it to my mother, because she helped me with some parts of this gift.

Conclusion At first, Sara thought that poetry was boring, but she learned a lot of things in this term. Now, she loves poems because they are funny and she can express anything she wants in words. Mariña enjoyed these classes too, because she learned how to do different types of poems. Her favourite one was the dada poem because it is very random, just as she likes.

We learned some interesting things about poetry and we’d like to continue making more of them in the future.

Bibliographical references Information ● ●

“Regina Spektor”. Wikipedia. [Accessed 21­05­2014] “Blue Lips by Regina Spektor”. Songfacts. [Accessed 31­05­2014]

Images ● ● ● ●

Gándara S., Mariña. (03­06­2014). “This doodle doesn’t deserve any cool title.”.

“Regina Spektor”. Found in Negro&White. [Accessed 31­05­2014] Permuy B., Sara. “Sara’s present”. [Taken on 03­06­2014] Gándara S., Mariña. (03­06­2014). “Mariña’s present”. [Taken on 03­06­2014]