did not use any poetic devices such as personification,
simile, metaphor, allusion, rhythm, and rhyme. In
addition to that, he followed strict chronological order
to be more realistic and create a factual narrative. The
only figurative device that the poet use was visual
images. Also, scientific words such as the title “cetacean’
(which means whale) and "blew" (to describe how a
whale shoots water out of its blow-hole) are used in the
poem to maintain a more realistic point of view. Also,
the exact description of the measurable length of these
whales supports the realism. In the poem "Cetacean" the
speaker used neutral words as often as possible, such
as "vessel" instead of ship or yacht. His diction choices
support the realism and scientific outlook very closely.
The speaker avoided writing the poem as a cliché because
other poems about whales are always emotional. Stream
of consciousness technique, such as "Out of Fisherman's
Wharf, San Francisco, Sunday, early" and "Our vessel bow
to stern, some sixty- three feet" is used to emphasize
chronological order and mirror the style of a dictated
scientific report. The speaker included no emotions
and opinions about the whales which suddenly passed
the boat. The repeated use of the pronoun "they" to
describe the whales and the verb "observe" to describe
the people's attitude show that the speaker wants the
readers to form their own opinions about the whale
sighting. He did not want to write another clichéd poem
about the magnificence of whales. He did not want to
force readers to make them believe any specific idea
about the whales. Also, he used neutral descriptions
choices like "vanished" and "shallow angle" to reinforce
the scientific structure.
The poem "Cetacean" is a poem that refuses to follow
poetic structure to avoid becoming a cliché. The poet
showed neither a good nor bad attitude towards the
whales. This is a poem that uses no poetic techniques to
be realistic and anti-poetic. It helps the reader to assign
his or her own emotional reactions to the described
event. The decisions made by Peter Reading make this
poem interesting and unique.
Dila BAHADIR
10-A
24
THE CLAPPER 2018 - 2019
Dear Editor of the New
York Times
Lately, I read an essay about canceling summer vacation
that was written by KJ Dell’ Antonia, and entitled "The
Families Can’t Afford Summer.” The article explains
the reasons why summer vacation should be canceled.
I strongly disagree with the idea of canceling summer
vacation, because this idea gives rise to numerous bigger
problems while trying to solve other problems students
have on account of summer break.
When the author says, “Summer’s supposed freedom
is expensive.” I definitely don’t agree with her. I don’t
disagree with the fact that parents have money issues
because of summer vacations, but my point is that
canceling summer break is not the solution for this.
Money conflicts can be solved by other means. If
families can’t afford large amounts of money for summer
vacations, then they can prefer cheaper vacation
opportunities and still enjoy it. Furthermore, families
can even opt for short-term summer vacations, because
a brain can renew itself in several days rather than
weeks. Moreover, all students have to spend time with
their family to strengthen their relationships. Having fun
with your family doesn’t necessarily require money, so
using money as an excuse can’t justify canceling summer
break.
In the article, the author states that watching television
all day is unhealthy for students. Is staying in the class all
day along for a whole year healthy? Being in the school
without any breaks creates health issues. Students
can’t get fresh air, and can’t benefit from vitamin D,
because they are not going out when the sun smiles at
them. Additionally, students need to have fun, or their
phycology will be influenced by the endless work, and
they will become depressed. Thus, for their physical and
mental health, summer break is obviously needed.
Even if the author claims the opposite, students need to
give a break to their brains and relax in order to be more
successful. Instead of working continuously, a brain can
perform better by working with pauses. It is even proved
by scientific research that giving a break to your brain is
important to achieve your goals.
I don’t accept it when the author says students forget
their math and reading skills in the summer break.
Refreshing your mind doesn’t mean losing your skills
and knowledge; it only increases the quality of work.
If some of the students are forgetting their lessons this
quick, then this is a problem of their own, and not all the
students have to pay for this by giving up their summer
break.