Sorry but I posted "Country Bumpkin" into my Extra Credit Folder.

Country Bumpkin.
I used to live in a city that was named Cerritos, but called Dairy Valley, and famous for farming back in the 1950s. I lived there all my life, I knew everyone around, and sometimes, I got visit some remaining farms that have not been taken over by industrialization. Through this, I got some very fresh fruits all season, including strawberries and such. Maybe the stereotype may say Bumpkins are not sophisticated, I think that Country Bumpkins can be ones that live in their environment for a long time. As for thinking of a country, I see a sun rising in the distant hills, shining onto the great red farms and barns, then the cocks cock, and farmers begin to collect their wheats, or whatever. Since the city I used to live in, was just like that, I suppose a stereotypical "Country Bumpkin" is hardly ever found, because most of the people living in Cerritos now are just normal people, kids, high schoolers, even there are malls around. One thing that I really associate with in Cerritos is my Solar Powered Library. It is the only fully solar powered and recycling library in the whole world, and I just feel real good sitting in it. Another thing was cars, I used to secretly drive cars around, but that was just for a while, I would drive it all the way down to San Diego or something. Anyways, the important thing is that, you can associate in anything now to be a country Bumpkin, one thing you have to do is to respect the place you live in or lived there for a long time and still like it. As for me, living in Taiwan, or more specifically, Taipei, I think I'll never be a country Bumpkin for this place as long as I live.
Stereotypical List:
Cerritos (past) Country:
-Plains
-Hills
-Green, Brown, and Red
-Fruits
-Smiling farmers
-barns and straws
-horses
-1950s
-happy kids.
-Fresh Air
-smoking
Cerritos (now) City:
-Two story blocks of normal American houses, each with a small garden in front.
-Cars
-Schools
-Cerritos Park East : (CPE)
-Swimming Pools
-Hospital
-"Welcome to Cerritos" sign
-Fresh Air (so you can actually breath)
-no one smoking
-Happy students
-Tennis, Basketball, and various sport courts

Analyzing a Poem

To see the quality and figure out what a poem I must first point all the vocabulary I don't know. Through knowing the meaning of these unknown vocabularies I may point out what the poem may want the reader to know and think. I also would search up the author of the poem in order to see how this poem relates to his life, therefore, I may find out what might be happening in a poem. Then I search for metaphors, and other symbolic things to see what it might mean. I would read the metaphors and similes very carefully, because there are direct meanings hidden in them, allowing a clearer sense in the poem. Through these small steps, I can analyze the poem and find out what it is actually talking about. Another important thing is to locate rhythms and other things that will show up in poems. I look at stanzas and how the sentence is structured carefully, in this way I can figure out what TYPES of poem I am looking. By understanding the individuality of the poem and maybe understand the "flow" of the poem. Theses careful instructions I follow helps me know the poem in a clearer sense, therefore, I can analyze it very carefully and dig out meaningful spots out of the poem.

Death Poem

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each 
Feels shorter than the day 
I first surmised the horses' heads 
were toward eternity.
         
 The poem “Death “ by Emily Dickinson basically is telling many that nobody can stop death, and if any tries to, you cannot escape “him” from coming to you. During the time of your death, she writes down that you will go through all kinds of things that relates to a normal person’s life. For example, near the fifth line or so, Dickinson describes that Death is strolling through kids at recess playing joyfully, and that is where youth comes in. Death also then takes her to a place of grain and a beautiful setting sun; this means that the path to heaven is available, while Dickinson is going through all these happiness.  She wants others to know that it is something that is not to be feared, but might be something that people might want to rejoice ab. In this poem, we can hunt down many literary things. For example, in the second to last stanza readers can visualize the rhyme in the second and fourth line of it. The second line’s ground, rhymes with the fourth’s mound! I think everything in this poem is a metaphor or a sentence representing another meaning. Especially when she mentions about youths playing and forgetting their lessons. This part, I personally think, Dickinson is trying to bring awareness that youth is something we should hold in our hands carefully and spend time cautiously with it. We cannot spill the contents of youth onto the ground, because we will end up regretting this.  In this poem, we see many unreachable vocabularies that humans try to gain but cannot. There are also some pretty skeptical words and phrases, such as scarcely visible, or labor. Most of it seems to be telling people that Death takes away all the pain and hard work you normally do, and stroll through the pasts and shows you all the great fun times a human can have. Speaking honestly, the whole poem is just one sentence to me. Dickinson may be telling the readers that death may not be something to be scared about, but rather something that will take all the pain you have away.  In the same Stanza about the youth, it constantly says “we passed, we passed, and we passed”, this tells the readers also that we live our lives faster each day as we get older, and during the time of “Death” we see our lives faster than ever, but eternally getting faster each day. 

The Courage That My Mother Had Quickwrite: pg. 537

To be honest, I would love to inherit my dad's money for he has saved billions of dollars over the years. I know this is a very greedy thing and very selfish, I suppose, but everyone would love to gain some money. Although I wouldn't waste it all at once, some of the money I would frankly donate to the unfortunates and hospitals. Another thing I would like the inherit a picture of my dad during his war with China, I already own two that shows in back in the 60's with him on a navy ship commanding others, and another where he was younger wearing a grass hat with a rifle in his hand. My dad told me he has a picture of my grandfather in his command post in a police station back in Hong Kong. My dad also told me he wants me to have a watch that is made with 24k gold that has been in his drawer for a long time. I suppose the price would be high for it was a Rolex watch, but I would keep it for family sake. The only time I will ever sell it is if a comet or bomb dropped into my house and ruined my economic life.