Yet do i marvel-Countee Cullen 

I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,

And did He stoop to quibble could tell why

The little buried mole continues blind,   

Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,

Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus

Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare   

If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus

To struggle up a never-ending stair.   

Inscrutable His ways are, and immune   

To catechism by a mind too strewn   

With petty cares to slightly understand   

What awful brain compels His awful hand.   

Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:   

To make a poet black, and bid him sing!

In the poem Yet Do I Marvel the author Countee Cullen uses many sound devices, figures of speech, and imagry. These is not alot of imagry but when he talkes about the little mole that is blind is imagry. This make you really think about and visualize that not everything in life is fair or easy. This little buried mole didnt do anything in the world yet he must live blind. This is one of the ways that Countee Cullen was showing that that it doesnt matter what happens in life because God controls everything.

The poem is full of sound devices. The rhyme scheme canges throughout the poem. First it is ABAC, then it is ABCD, then it is AABB. This gives an interesting tone to the poem because it does not flow uniform through out and makes the reader read it differently. Another sound devices that is in the poem is alliteration. Some examples of alliteration are baited by fickle fruit or doubt not god is good. The use of alliteration in the poem really stresses the meaning of what e poet is saying.

Yet Do I Marvel has quite a few figures of speech , but the one that sticks out the most to me is the imagery. The poet references Greek mythology in lines 5-8 in talking about 2 Greek Demigods who are in eternal punishment. Tantalus is made to stand in water below a fruit tree but can never eat nor drink, and Sisyphus is made to roll a boulder up a hill but before it reaches the top it will roll down again. Cullen uses these examples to show how they are being eternally punished even though they might not deserve it. The poem uses may poetic devices to give a lot of meaning to his poem and really get his point across.

     What is transcendentalism? Transcendentalism is the idea or movement of nonconformity, appreciation of nature and what it can teach us, the value of imagination, and the belief in simplicity. Some of these qualities can be applied to people, but very few people believe in most or all of these qualities. One modern day person who would be considered a transcendentalist would be David Whyte. David Whyte is a zoologist turn poet, and he fits most of the qualities of a modern day transcendentalist.
    David Whyte went to college and got a degree for zoology. He went and lived on the gualapagos islands for some time when he realized that zoology wasn't his passion. He wanted to become a poet and a writer. With his background in zoology and having lived in the gualapagos islands have him a deep and spiritual connection with nature which also shows in his poetry.

   David Whyte is also an author of 3 books along with several poetry books. One of his books is about bringing the "soul" back into corporate America. He wrote about how he was worried that America and corporate companies were starting to view sucess as money, and not satisfaction of their  customers. This is very transcendentalist because he is not using the monetary standards of success.

  One last reason he is considered a modern transcendentalist is because he believes in simplicity. He has been quite a successful writer/poet but he still lives on a small island, in a small house with his family. He could afford a large house in the city, but he lives in the woods where he can enjoy nature and the simple life.

Will Tom ever leave Daisy for Myrtle? Explain why or why not.

In lots of people's opinion, learning poetry in class is useless. "How will this ever apply to real life?" There are many ways that poetry help develop your literary skills, but in application to real life I think that there are three main applications. The first application is understanding the difference of what people say and what people mean. Second, it helps develop the ability to use and understand figurative language. Lastly, I think that poetry is an amazing was to express yourself and poetry can help connect people.

One of the many applications of learning poetry is learning the difference between what someone spoke/wrote and what the author ment. One example of that type of speech is sarcasm. In poetry many authors do not mean what they say. They often mean something different and even though it is up to interpretation most agree with a meaning.

Second is learning figurative speech. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" WHAT?! That is an example of a hyperbole but is someone didn't know or understand that they might think you are a horse eater and morbidly obese.

The last application of poetry is my opinion, but it is that poetry can connect people. Poets and poetry is often very relatable because poets often write about common struggles or situations that all people can relate to.

          In my opinion, the American dream is the dream for a better life. We might not think of it as a better life but we always are trying to find something better. Something easier. Wether it is finding a faster way of driving to work, or the easier way of figuring out a math problem, We always want something better. Also, another trait of the American dream is that by working hard you can achieve anything. And I know that by working hard it makes it easier to achieve your goals, but that does not mean that you can achevie all you your goals. That is the difference between The American dream and the reality of life in America.