This is a beautiful painting of a "ground swell". This is the "black wall" that was mentioned in the story. | What is a ground swell? A ground swell is a broad deep undulation of the ocean caused by an often distant gale or seismic disturbance. What this basically means it that if there is a huge storm in another location, it will affect a location across from it. If there were a storm or earthquake in The Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans and Florida will receive large waves or even a tsunami. In class we are reading a narrative poem called Ground Swell by Mark Jarman. Immediately, from the title, we can most likely infer that this story is going to be about the ocean. The story starts off most likely in the perspective of a boy the of a older age looking upon his past memories. He states "I saw myself so clearly then, and painfully --" Form the word then we can infer that he is talking about the past and the word painfully could lead hints about the rest of the text. He talks a bit about his job at the theater and the pain it brings him. He seems to question what he is writing about twice in the poem, I think he did this because he felt that people expect certain this from a poem, but he wanted to change things up. He talks about what poem guidelines are and then leads back onto the story. My personal fave part of the poem is when he says, "And if those years before and after sixteen are colorless as salt and taste like sand. Then he brings up something that we should all admit doing, peeing in the water. I know it's gross but the way he describes it makes it feel that you are there in that icy ocean water. Jarman then states that his summer was so removed, what does this mean? I suppose that he is talking about how his happiness was removed from that summer. He once again questions what he is writing about and goes back to the story. Once he goes back on topic he talks about his boy, " An older boy who had just graduated and grown a great blonde mustache, like a walrus, skimmed past me like a smooth machine on water." So from this we can infer that this is a description of an older boys who is friends with the narrator. The narrator talks about how " his name is carved now on the black wall in Washington." If you were to search the black wall in Washington you are quickly informed that this is the Veterans Memorial Wall, were all the men that died in Vietnam. This sentence quickly changes the entire story, now we know that all of this ocean talk may have been in reference to war all along. This story just took a tragic turn and next we are informed that the narrators father preached at the boy's funeral. The most morbid part is when it says, "he came home in a bag that may have been mixed in pieces of his squad." This quote is saying that the boy had been blown to pieces with his fellow soldiers and came home in a bag. At the end he says, "that's my ground swell," and for me that explains the title. A ground swell is a group of huge waves that are a result of a storm or an earthquake that happen some where else. This was a 'huge wave' for him and it was something that was hard for him to get over, like it is hard to get over a big wave. |
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As you all may know, California is struggling with an extreme climate. Everyday the sun gets hotter and the ground gets dryer. Its hard having such a largely populated state and having to deal with a drought. I was on youtube recently and I came across a video from BuzzFeedYellow that was talking about the drought in California. In this video they focused on a county called Porterville, and the problems they were facing. A local resident with out water, named Donna Johnson who takes her time and money to donate water and supplies to her neighbors. She buys bottles of water and takes around her neighbor hood to give water to those who are without any. One person in particular is Lupé Zamudio, who has been without water for six months, is so grateful for her community coming together to help each other. Roman Hernandez, a pastor, has set up bathrooms and showers in east Porterville, for the community to use. About a week ago, there were about 596 homes without a working well and according to Roman, you hear of a new one drying up everyday. Lupé stated that "President Obama sent lots of water and food to other countries." She is concerned that we are in the same country, yet he is not providing us with the help we need. Since Lupé does not have a mental illness or young children, she has not been connected to the city's water supply. Porterville is a farming community and due to the drought, almost everyone is jobless or is going to lose their job. With the help from Donna and Roman the community has hope that someday life will be better, but they need help from the government, and if they don't get it soon, many will suffer. Donna giving water to neighbors.
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