In My Teen Years
What am I to do,
who am I to become?
Life was so effortless
when I was still very young.
Now there is a path,
which lies before me,
which calls me onward,
never stop!
I am not a dream, my mind tells me so.
I am life, according to my soul.
I am afraid of uncertainties,
possible disappointments.
Still the taste of happiness,
no,
the smell of it, lures me.
Family,
friends,
their fingertips reach for me;
I want to jump alone
into the abyss of my curiosity!
I want to dance with myself,
dream about myself,
and wake up smiling,
because of who I was,
then,
because of who I am,
now,
because of who I found,
me.
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26 comments:
I would have to say that this poem was very interesting. Wow, it really makes me think if my life is going to be like that when I get older. I would have to strongly agree when you said, “What am I to do, who am I to become? Life was so effortless when I was still very young. Even though I am not older I know that as you get older you start to think of all things you did when you were little and how you got away with everything. For example when I was little I cut all the hair off of my new life size Barbie and I put on my puppy dog face and my parents couldn’t do anything but smile. When your young life is really effortless, there are no worries about grades and that much responsibility. The tone in this poem seemed vague to me, but it seemed like you wanted to be young again and have dreams.
The figurative language that I notice is when you said, “Still the taste of happiness, no. You can’t taste happiness, but I think you are trying to say that you once had a taste of happiness and it is no longer there. I really enjoyed reading this poem because it really opened my eyes and made me think of what my life was like when I was younger, and how easy things were. There was no comment before me therefore I cannot comment on someone else’s comment, but if someone said that this poem was not good I would highly disagree.
In My Teen Years
"What am I to do,who am I to become?"
I believe the line above shows confusion about ones innerself. As if you are trying to look at yourself from the outside in and discover "what makes me, me?" Your teenage years are supposed to be spent answer these questions.All of this leads me to believe the the tone of the poem is confused, curious, and self reflecting. The fist line shows confusion, while lines like "I want to jump alone
into the abyss of my curiosity!"obviously show curiosity about your self. And the entire poem itself is self reflecting because it asks questions such as "who am I to become?" or " What am I to do."
"Still the taste of happiness"
The line above is a hyperbole because you can't actually taste happiness becasue it is an emotion. But I know some fat kids that would disagree.LOL. Sorry Mr. Donoso I didn't really like the poem. Me, myself I just couldn't relate to it even as a teenager. I don't try to spend so much time deciding on what i'm going to do with my life. I try to live in the moment because you can't change your destiny. So I guess would have to disagree with some one. I guess they might be a type who lives through the future not the now. Not theres anything wrong with it but you have to take life one day at a time.
$.$tevens
In My Teen Years
"Life was so effortless
when I was still very young." I think this line is remeniscant of a time when you didnt have to do anything not even wipe your butt, because mommy did that for you(you in general). The tone of this poem is remeniscant of your baby years and longing for more time as a child/teen. An example of this is "Life was so effortless
when I was still very young.
Now there is a path,
which lies before me,
which calls me onward,
never stop!" Some figurative language in this poem is "I want to jump alone
into the abyss of my curiosity!" this is figuraqtive language because there isnt an actual hole in the ground filled with curiousity, this actually means you want to immerse yourself in new experiances and feelings and people. I like this poem because i can relate to it, it seems life is going by very fast. I agree when someone said "Even though I am not older I know that as you get older you start to think of all things you did when you were little and how you got away with everything."
~Greg C
TITLE: In My Teen Years
LINE: “I am afraid of uncertainties, possible disappointments. Still the taste of happiness, no, the smell of it, lures me.”
What a question!! What am I to and become? I, too, aim to walk that long infinite path called LIFE! I think I started as soon as I walked on ATC campus for the first time. No matter how hard my body screams at me, telling me to sit down for a few seconds, I must strive and endure this road of uncertainties. Personally, I’m afraid that if I rest my body and my motives, the seconds that I use my turn into minutes, hours, days, months, or years.
This line that I have chosen sent an energized, atomic explosion towards me when I read it. “Still the taste of happiness, no, the smell of it, lures me.” Brain Blast!! I’m sensing a ‘hyperbolic’ metaphor, here. It’s breakdown time! If my two little words aren’t real, I’m trying to say that I think this line contains a hyperbole or an exaggeration of the way happiness is sensed and obtained. When you said, “… the taste… no, the smell…, lures me”, I thought it showed that you don’t have to even taste happiness to be lured in, all you have to do is get a whiff of it and you’re hooked like that! Also, the line contains a metaphor. I say this because happiness is not like a fishing rod that casts it line out to catch unsuspecting men and women. Happiness is only an emotion, which can metaphorically catch male teachers like Mr. Donoso.
I think that the blog of ‘someone’ was very amusing, Leticia!! For instance, when she was referring to third and fourth lines of the poem, talking about life as a kid, she said that when she cut the hair off her Barbie doll and her parents got mad at her, all she could do was put on the puppy dog face, which caused her parents to just smile. But I do agree when she said, “Even though I am not older I know that as you get older you start to think of all things you did when you were little and how you got away with everything”. I, too, think that as you move on in life, you look back on the fun things as you grew up, before you even knew about middle school, elementary school, or naptime! All in all, I enjoyed reading this poem. It made me feel more comfortable in my life situation, as I thought that I was the only one having a hard time making decisions and also having to walk that infinite path, sometimes unwillingly!
D_V_N Johnson
Title: In My Teen Years
What am I to do,
who am I to become?
These are my favorite lines because it shows that it the time when you start thinking about the future and deciding what you’re going to do with your life. With the poem starting out like this it seem the tone is confused but then curiosity from the lines “I want to jump alone into the abyss of my curiosity!” one line of figurative language is “Still the taste of happiness no, the smell of it, lures me.” because you can’t really taste happiness or smell it. I liked this poem mainly because it got me thinking about the future and what I going to do which I still unsure of, also reminded me how easy life was before high school, when you could get away with anything. I agree with “someone” blog when he/she said “I think you are trying to say that you once had a taste of happiness and it is no longer there.”
“In My Teen Years”
“Life was so effortless
when I was still very young.”
This line is referring to the difficulties of growing older, as hinted by the title of the poem. The poet is stating that life used to be simple, but now it is becoming complicated.
“I want to dance with myself,
dream about myself,
and wake up smiling,
because of who I was,”
I believe that the tone of this poem is reflective and curious, much like previous poems because the poet wants to remember who he was in the past years which are long gone.
“Now there is a path,
which lies before me,
which calls me onward,
never stop!”
There is personification here as the path of life is able to give commands.
“Family,
friends,
their fingertips reach for me;
I want to jump alone
into the abyss of my curiosity!”
There is a metaphor because the poet’s family and friends are trying to get in contact with him, but that is being simplified as them extending their fingertips to physically touch him. On that same note, the poet does not want to be with them, because he wants to “jump” alone into the abyss of his curiosity. I think that this means that the poet does not want the guidance of his family and friends and wants to experience life for himself and not need someone holding their hand in the kiddy pool (jumping alone into the abyss of curiosity).
This poem’s figurative language is very complex. This is very thought provoking, and took me a while to understand it. I liked it though and can relate to life becoming harder and harder approaching the end of the teenage years.
I agree with Shawn when he said, “you have to take life one day at a time” because we cannot plan everyday ahead of us. However, I am much like the author, and often find myself asking myself what I am going to do in the future. I should take Shawn’s advice to heart and begin to not worry about what is ahead.
“ In My Teen Years” Talar Dulaney
Whoa! I happened to like this poem. And as I read it I started to think about teenagers now and days that are afraid of disappointments and uncertainties. I feel this poem will be good for people who haven’t found them selves because this can bring a lot of thoughts to mind. A few thoughts that cam to my mind as I read this poem was how the author explains how life was so easy and effortless to where what ever you do it wont matter because as much from the past because like the author said he is still very young and when you do things when your young it wont matter because people will view it (author) as a cute little kid that possibly don’t know any better. As to where now “adulthood” what ever you do will be viewed as why is he or she doing that, they should no better.
I can determine the tone in the lines “What am I to do, who am I to become? Life was so effortless when I was still very young.” I feel this way because when you’re young it really doesn’t matter who you think you are because who ever you see you will say I want to be just like that person when I grow up, so I think the author is trying to say that when you are young life is more easier and it also flows a lot better because you don’t have to do anything to impress a person, it wouldn’t matter what kind of clothes or shoes you wear because at a young age style don’t matter. I also feel this express the tone because the author seems confused as to who he wants to be and also worried because he don’t know who to become and who not to become.
The line I liked was because of “who I was, then, because of who I am, now, because of who I found, me.” I can honestly say that I love and relate to this line because as you get older you will start defining who you are and what matters to you. I also like this line because this can explain if a person had a bad past and in the present he can try and better himself so that another person won’t have a bad future. ( I cant explain it) . This line stands out because I have heard people tell others learn from your past, don’t let it reflect on your present and find yourself in the future. (Something like that) I also like this line because it seemed like the author was happy with who he is now and he’s happy that he found his place in the world because finding yourself in a huge world can be a great victory.
Some Figurative language I saw was “Still the taste of happiness, no.” which this is a hyperbole because you can’t actually taste happiness. The other language I saw was “I want to jump alone into the abyss of my curiosity!" because first of all curiosity isn’t something you can jump into which will make this a personification or hyperbole.
In conclusion I disagree with $.$teven when he says “Sorry Mr. Donoso I didn't really like the poem. Me, myself I just couldn't relate to it even as a teenager.” I strongly disagree because first I loved this poem and secondly I believe that everyone in their teen years will go through something you described in the poem because it’s life and life is hard and in ordered to live an uncomplicated life you will have to find out who you are and that usually starts popping off in your head when you’re a teen while there is peer pressure and everything else. I also disagreed when he said “I try to live in the moment because you can't change your destiny.” Because I feel that you can control your destiny because if you choose to live a bad life your destiny won’t look so good, but if you set goals for yourself and work towards them chances are your destiny will / might look good. But its also good he lives for the moment because were not promised tomorrow but its still good to have dreams and find out who you are in the crazy world you live in….. =)
This poem talks about how someone discovered himself within his teen years. The last line, “because of who I found,
me.” shows that he was looking for himself. I do like the poem because this is about the age where we find/figure out who we’ll be for the rest of our lives. This is where we lay down those building blocks of our lives. Life is still somewhat hard for us, because of schooling, friends, family, and all the peer pressure we may endure, but it’s not that hard. Compared to adults who have to totally fend for themselves, pay bills and all, we don’t.
The line that says he was lured by the smell of happiness, that’s figurative language, because happiness doesn’t have a smell. He used to as that was like his goal, he could smell it, and he followed his nose to it. The tone of the poem is cheerful that he was able to find himself. He found the path that would lead him, to who he was.
I agree with what Shawn said, “"What am I to do, who am I to become?"
I believe the line above shows confusion about ones inner self. As if you are trying to look at yourself from the outside in and discover "what makes me, me?" Your teenage years are supposed to be spent answer these questions”, the first line does show that he is questioning himself. In your teen years you are to ask all your self doubting questions so you won’t have them when you’re older. When you’re out on your own and can’t take the time to question yourself, it’s much too late then.
“who am I to become?”
The poem is about the author’s teen years, and I believe that this line captures one of the biggest questions a teen must find an answer to. “Who am I to become?” We all wonder what we are going to do once we are finished with school, some of us decide early,while others stumble their way into their future. Regardless of what decisions we make about our future, we all must ask this question, so this line was very useful in relating to teenagers.
“I want to jump lone, into the abyss of my curiosity!”
This is a metaphor. The poet wants to, not literally jump into an abyss named curiosity, but the author wants to be free to answer the questions that his curiosity asks. Family and friends can not answer his curiosity for him, though they love him, they can not come with him on his journey of self exploration.
The tone of the poem is reminiscent, well actually no it is not. The author puts himself back into the shoes of a teenager. So I would say the tone of the poem is lost, just like most teenagers are. Flying through this world at a fast pace like a dart, just hoping that they score big wherever they may land.
Honestly, I didn’t like this poem very much, the last few lines were incredible, but as a whole I did not like it. Well to begin with I hate free verse, but that is not a good reason to dislike a poem. Besides the two lines I elaborated on previously, nothing about this poem stuck out to me.
I agree with Shawn J when he said, “Sry Mr. Donoso I just didn’t like this poem very much.” It’s not that it was bad, it just wasn’t good. It was a short poem and I was bored half way through it. know that you are capable of writing much better poems, this was just a low point.
First and foremost Devin I am always crazy girl and never anonymous I like my opinion to be known that I said it not by “anonymous.” Sheesh anyway back to the comment, my feelings to this poem were iffy. It wasn’t the greatest and it wasn’t as horrible as that sonnet from before. I liked certain lines such as, “I am afraid of uncertainties, possible disappointments.” For the simple reason that I can relate so well to that. How you are afraid to trust or of the unknown. Everyone has those feelings with something. Plus it makes me think of past disappointments because of me trusting someone new. It is a place I tend to get torn whether to be safe and trust in someone new regardless of the past or to bottle up and not trust. Another line I liked which was my all time favorite was “because of who I found, me.” It was a great way to end it. Making me think of how I went through so many stages and finally found me. And trust me there was a lot of stages. The poet’s tone is like unsure, like when the poet says, “What am I to do,” or “Who am I to become?” I agree with Matt when he described how the poet showed that teenagers were, “Flying through this world at a fast pace like a dart, just hoping that they score big wherever they may land.” Also there was a very nice personification in the poem when the poet said that happiness’s smells and lures them. When happiness is an emotion and can’t smell. Personally I think that the poem needs a little work on the lines, “I am not a dream, my mind tells me so. I am life, according to my soul.” For it kinda was like a bump in the poem. I mean it was flowing and I could feel it and boom bad line no offense. Just try saying it in another way. I liked the beginning I could definitely picture a teenager lost like we all get sometimes. But hey if we didn’t get lost in these crazy mixed up teenage years would we ever truly find ours that we are today? I know I am happy I got lost because I found the crazy out there me compared to how I use to be.
“Now there is a path, which lies before me, which calls me onward, never stop!” This is my most favorite line in this poem because it is the line I can most relate to at this point in my life. As I’m getting older, the amounts of responsibilities I must take on only continue to increase. Although there have been many times when I simply want to give up, I know that’s not what my future has in store for me. However, I equally liked the line that said, “I want to dance with myself, dream about myself, and wake up smiling, because of who I was, then, because of who I am, now, because of who I found, me.” I think this line is so motivating because it’s saying that life may be hard but you must carry on. In doing so, you will discover the true you, what you are capable of and what your feelings are about certain topics.
I think the tone of this poem can be considered happy and motivating. The author is obviously extremely happy about how he lived throughout all his teenage years and how in doing so he finally found himself. I found this poem to also be very motivating. Being a teenager now, it’s nice to hear that all this hard work will pay off and, in the end, will definitely be worth it.
Throughout this poem, many uses of figurative language can be found. “Now there is a path,” and its following lines can be considered a metaphor. In actuality there is no path to follow; the author simply means that fate is making him continue living by its standards. Things, such as responsibility and growing up emotionally can be considered part of walking down the path. “I am not a dream, my mind tells me so. I am life, according to my soul.” These few lines are considered personifications because in the real world, our minds and souls can’t tell us anything. The author is implying that this is the way he thinks and feels. “Still the taste of happiness, no, the smell of it, lures me” This line is also considered a personification because our senses have been given human-like characteristics. The author means that the small sweet taste of happiness isn’t even needed to lure him; all he needs is one whiff. “I want to jump alone
into the abyss of my curiosity!” This line is considered a personification because curiosity certainly can’t have any form of an abyss; it means that his curiosity is infinite. “Because of who I found, me.” This line should be considered a personification because in actuality, you can’t find yourself. You are always in your presence and for that reason, you can’t be found. The author is simply implying that you begin to understand yourself completely.
I absolutely love this poem! It actually discusses a topic that has been on my mind a lot recently. Time seems to fly; it feels like yesterday I was using finger paints and learning the alphabet and before long I will be heading into college. This semester has dealt me a lot of work; many days I simply want to give up. This poem definitely reminds me why I am working so very hard, because it pays off. I really like how the author writes about a topic in which his audience can relate. I love reading a poem that I can connect with.
I really agree with someone when she said, “Wow, it really makes me think if my life is going to be like that when I get older.” This poem made me stop and think about how fast life is passing us and it really made me think about what my future holds for me.
"In My Teen Years"
“I want to dance with myself, dream about myself, and wake up smiling, because who I was then, because of who I am now, because of who I found me.” I really liked this line from the poem because it showed how you stayed true to yourself when most people change and aren’t the same. I also liked it because it meant that when the person had finished high school he had found himself and truly knew who he was as a person. “I am afraid of uncertainties, possible disappointments. Still the taste of happiness, no, the smell of it, lures me.” In this line you could clearly see what the tone is. It is at times cautious but when he gets happy he stays like that. I also think the tone has to do with achieving something because it seems as though the author is looking back at his past years and how he was growing up.
“Now there is a path, which lies before me, which calls me onward, never stop!” This is a form of a metaphor and personification in one because in real life there isn’t an actual path for you to lead, most of the time you make your own decsions and you live your life your way. Also a path couldn’t really call on you and tell you to never stop. In my opinion, I really liked the poem because it talks about the most precious years a of a teenagers life. As I’m getting older I keep thinking that time goes by so fast. I still remember everything from kindergarten and all my elementary school teachers. It also tells me that if you work for something that in the end it would eventually pay off.
Another reason why I enjoyed this poem is because I have connected to it and it has made me realize that its life and we all have to grow up. As much as we want to stay in high school or be a little kid, we have to face the real world and never give up when we have an obstacle in our way. I agreed with Alyssa when she said it felt like we were getting older because in reality we are. We are almost halfway done with sophomore year and then two more years and we’re off to college. I also agreed with Talar that we’re always living in the moment because at anytime anything could happen and you never know how much you truly appreciate something until you lose it. Keep up the good work Mr.Donoso :]
In My Teen Years
“Life was so effortless when I was still very young”
This line from the poem really expresses the tone of the poem to me. It shows the author has a very reflective and nostalgic tone. He is saying how life when he was a teen was so much easier and now that he has grown up, there is lot of demand in his life now. He wants to go back to being a teen; it was easier for him to be careless and lazy.
In this poem I have spotted a couple forms of figurative language. The first one I would like to point out is when the author says, “Still the taste of happiness”; this is personification because no one I really know can taste happiness. What the author is trying to say is that he feels the ease and happiness of being a teenager all over again. The second figurative language I found in this poem would be when the author said, “I want to jump alone into the abyss of my curiosity”, Once again that is another personification because no one can jump into curiosity, let alone an abyss in curiosity. Curiosity is just a feeling you get in your mind when you really want to know something, and last time I checked no one can physically jump into their mind. What the author is trying to say is that he wants to go back to being curious because when he didn’t know about anything there were fewer worries. Also when the author says, “the smell of it, lures me”, this is a hyperbole. The author is exaggerating when he says the smell of being young smells good and it’s pulling him back. What I think he is saying is that the sweet thought of it, makes him want to go back to being a teen even more. One last figurative language I have located was, “I am not a dream, my mind tells me so”, and this is a form of personification. Nobody’s mind can physically speak and tell someone comments. The author is trying to say that his mind is leading him to think that he is a dream. There are a couple more forms of figurative language in this poem; I just wanted to point out these few.
I can relate to this poem, because I too miss my days as an adolescent. When we were younger we had it easy. No school to worry about, no job to worry about. I remember being younger and attending school, on certain activities was I made mistakes, and teachers were more lenient because it was just the process of learning. Now that you actually know what to do it is your responsibility to apply it and be based on the grade you receive on anything. Now as we grow, how we learn and use what we learn is based on the criticism we receive.
I agree with “Alan c.” when he can relate to this poem because it shows how it gets more difficult as we grow older into life with more responsibilities.
This poem is very complex, and ready would have to look deep into the figurative language used just to decipher the true meaning and theme of this poem. This is an excellent piece of work Mr. Donoso. Your work seems to never fail me. Keep it up!
--Sarto Joli
--Block 2
I don’t like or this dislike this poem, it wasn’t as great as your other poems but I have to say, this poem has a very nice reflection since you are trying to say what you felt when you were younger. By looking back you find out you made good choices and how you lost hope for a bit but your friends and family helped you and how you afraid of uncertainty but at the same time feel happiness. The lines, Still the taste of happiness,
no,
the smell of it, lures me. Is a personification since you cannot really taste happiness but the poet is trying to say how he is lured by it but at the same time he is afraid of what he cannot see in the future. These lines is saying how many people can get happiness no matter what, since you will be able to achieve happiness so long as you try your best to. The tone of this poem is remember the years that shaped the poet into what he is today, without those actions and choices he made, he might have been a different person. However the poet is happy with who he is, noted by these lines, because of who I was,
then,
because of who I am,
now,
because of who I found,
me. I agree with Crazygurl with her saying how these lines are a bump in the poem that destroys the flow that held a picture in the reader’s mind. Although I must say, This poem is also true, since many teenagers will forget who they are and become a different person than who they really are.
In My Teen Years
“What am I to do, who am I to become?”
I think that this quote means the author has now grown up and is very confused. Life as an adult is very different from life as a teen, the author doesn’t know were to start or what to do, as a teen the author has his parents to guide and tell him what to do. Now, as an adult the author has to make his own choice and guide himself, the author has to be the one that chooses his own path.
In the ninth line of the poem the author used personification when he said “I am not a dream, my mind tells me so.” The author his giving his mind the ability to talk to him and tell him whether he is a dream or not.
I like this poem because it is giving teens a message about adult hood. The message is that being a teen and being an adult is very different. As a teen you don’t have much responsibility but as an adult you have many responsibilities. I also like this poem because every adult can relate to this poem. One day you’re a teen and the next you’re an adult, it all happened so fast that adult’s think that it’s all a dream.
I agree with someone said "Even though I am not older I know that as you get older you start to think of all things you did when you were little and how you got away with everything." My parents have told me over and over again the being a teen is so different from being an adult so I prepare for the challenge. They also told me that with freedom come great responsibilities.
“In My Teen Years”
In my opinioned mind, this poem is very detailed in a brief way. Like in the following line : “I want to dance with myself, ream about myself, and wake up smiling, because of who I was, then, because of who I am, now, because of who I found, me.” The poem it self states that thanks to the successful person he was as a teenager he is greatful he has accomplished some of his long-term or short-term goals that he has had and become who he has wanted to be as a kid, but in a much rather simplistic vocabulary. My favorite line in the poem would have to be the following : “I want to dance with myself, dream about myself, and wake up smiling, because of who I was, then, because of who I am, now, because of who I found, me.” This is my favorite line because it makes me think of who I am now, who I was in the past, and who I will become in the future. I would like to be successful and for that some things do have to change for the good of everyone as well as me. A line of figurative language was: “I want to jump alone into the abyss of my curiosity!”, meaning he is a very into finding and trying new things and would love to do everything, but cannot. I agree with the statement Everton wrote about the poem giving off a message about being an adult as well as the different type and levels of responsibilities they both. All in all I do like the poem it gives of a powerful message, being, that you do have to grow up and mature but at the same time live your life. NICE POEM =]
--
Stephanie
“Life was so effortless when I was still very young.” When I read this line it made me think of how your childhood could be the best times in your life. You don’t have to worry about anything; all you have to do is have fun. Once you get into your teenage years, you have a lot of responsibilities, and some are still trying to figure what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. You should never want to grow up to fast and miss out on all the excitements of being a child. Time goes by fast enough and you should cherish every moment, whether be good or bad. I think that this line also expressed the tone on the poem, to be reflective.
The line “Still the taste of happiness, no, the smell of it,” is an example of a hyperbole. You can’t actually taste or smell happiness, you can only experience it. I really enjoyed reading this poem, it got me thinking about my childhood and everything a person goes through in life and because of that it helps them become the person that they are today. I disagree with Shawn because I believe that every teenager can relate to this poem. At least once you had to of asked yourself “What am I to do, who am I to become,” because during your teenage years you are still trying to find yourself.
The poem asks what am I to do, what am I to become? Is such a question for the teenage mind to actually be answered, or only to be posed and later answered? I think these lines are meant to be internal conflict within one self that one goes through as one grows up. Also, it seems these lines relate more what you will become not in terms of professionalism and getting a job, but what one will be inside such as happy or angry. The line never stop! is stressed with an exclamation point giving it importance. I think that the person in the poem doesn’t believe failure is an option. So he has tells himself that so he can keep going on the so called path that is ahead of him. This is also a great example of figurative language because there is not a nice little pavement path going through the grass with roses growing around it and all you do is walk across it and there he gets to where he was trying to get to. It is more the process of changing oneself. I get this from the last few lines
“I want to dance with myself,
dream about myself,
and wake up smiling,
because of who I was,
then,
because of who I am,
now,
because of who I found,
me.”
because here he talks about who he was meaning before going down the path and who he became and he was happy with it.
Poem: In My Teen Years
“What am I to do,
who am I to become?
“Someone” said that these lines made him think how his life is going to be when he becomes older. I really can relate to how he feels. I am always thinking about how my future will end up. Some things I think about are what college I will go to, my job, children, etc.
“Life was so effortless
when I was still very young.”
I agree with these lines a lot. I feel like my adolescence has gone easily. I don’t really feel like I’ve had many things to work for except school. I do believe that as time passes, life will become tougher and tougher.
“Now there is a path,
which lies before me,
which calls me onward,
never stop!”
I noticed a personification in these lines. Paths don’t really have the ability to call people. My interpretation of these lines is that the narrator wants to keep going on with his life.
I believe the tone of this poem is reflective. In the first two lines of the poem, the narrator was asking questions about himself. He then explains how life was as a teenager in the next two lines.
I did enjoy reading this poem because I can easily relate to it. As I mentioned earlier, I tend to think about and question how my life will end up in the future. There are many things that I’m still curious about. It’s interesting to see a poem that many people seem to be able to relate to.
I think that, while this poem was shorter than the one I read before, it still had a good bit of meat and depth to it. When you say "I am not a dream, my mind tells me so. I am life, according to my soul. I am afraid of uncertainties, possible disappointments." I can see the struggle you convey involved with being focused when following your dreams. I percieved it as going through your "path that lies before you" as a mindless drone, losing track of what is important when "as a dream" and seeing clearly the chances of uncertainty or dissapointment. The poem reads quick, but I find myself tracking back to decypher each line and look for even more meaning. I noticed right away your figurative language, "I want to jump alone, into the abyss of my curiosity!" I recognized these as memetaphors. I see the abyss as something unknown, and jumping into something like that requires courage. One striking thing I saw on a kind of double-take was the exellent mood it set. It transitioned from panic and hesitance, "What am I to do, who am I to become?," "I am afraid of uncertainties,
possible disappointments." to confidence and an attitude of inner clarity. I understand what it's like when you want to become strong enough to not need your family members that reach out to you with their "fingertips" and I can relate, as all highschool students will have to do this to some degree at the end of their four years of invincibility. I see a lot of negative comments on here, but I have to say it was a pleasure reading it.
In My Teen Years
"Now there is a path,
which lies before me,
which calls me onward,
never stop!"
I can relate to this line so well. It remids me of how I am now and of how I converted into a christian. Karen Black said in her comment that there really isn't a visable path in life that calls people onward and it's true. The only thing that does make me strive to never stop is my faith. Just like the aurthor i've found who I am. I've found that through Christ I don't have to worry.
"I am afraid of uncertainties,
possible disappointments."
This is exactly who I was before. I was always scared of certain situations and their outcomes. Now i'm practically fearless because I am redeamed.
"Still the taste of happiness,
no,
the smell of it, lures me."
This line is a metaphor. Obviously you can't taste or smell happiness but it's just the fact of showing expression and how the aurthor yearns to find himself. There are some people out there who never really find out who they are or need to become. Through out their whole lives they've been nothing but a lost soul. I love this poem because it's a reflection of my own life. It makes me think of where I was and how lucky I am to have found myself.
"Life was so effortless
when I was still very young."
This line relate to me in many ways. Now that I'm a teen, I have responsibilities and expectations. Life was so easy when I was a kid because I didn't have a care in the world. But now it’s different, and I have to make difficult choices.
The tone of this poem is confused. The author in his teen years doesn't know who he is and who he should become. All his new responsibilities are overwhelming him. He asks himself questions like "What am I to do?
Who am I to become?" He is obviously confused with his newborn life and wants to find himself.
"I want to jump alone
into the abyss of my curiosity!"
This is a simile because there isn't an actual abyss. The abyss of his curiosity he speaks of means he is very curious of many things he has encountered as a teen. An abyss is a very deep hole, so he compares it with his curiosity which is obviously large.
I agree with Greg C. when he says the line: "Life was so effortless
when I was still very young." was reminiscent of a time when you had no worries. As a child, you rarely did a thing for yourself, but breathe.
I actually do like this poem very much. It relates to me and situations I'm dealing with right now in my own life.
Blog Comment #3
“In My Teen Years”
”I want to jump alone into the abyss of my curiosity!” I absolutely loved this line when I read it. It was like you took the thoughts from my head. Growing up I always sat around and in my head I would escape my life thinking of things like how stuff worked or how things became what they are. I was constantly yearning to get lost in my questions of the world. It was unbelievable how perfectly you described exactly what I did when I was younger and just becoming a teenager.
The tone of the poem is very much self-discovery. You were just finding your path and becoming the person you wanted to be. In the line ”Now there is a path, which lies before me,” shows you found your ‘roadmap’ to self-discovery. You are looking at the time where you figured out what kind of person you would be.
There is a lot of figurative language in this writing. One of your favorites in this poem are metaphors. “Still the taste of happiness,
no, the smell of it, lures me.”, “I want to jump alone into the abyss of my curiosity!” are two examples of metaphors. You also use a variety of personification like when you write “Now there is a path, which lies before me,
which calls me onward,” which would imply that a path could call. There are also many more examples of figurative language in the poem but these happen to be my preferred lines.
I love this poem almost to the point where it is my favorite. I love the way it is written and how it flows. I also adore how well I can relate to it. I read these lines and feel like they were stolen form my own mind, almost like plagiarism.
I completely agree with the anonymous writer before me when they said that the tone was confused. Though that was not my answer, I believe that it’s true.the examples this person gave were correct and I’m somewhat angry I didn’t see that at first. So, I change my answer to confused for the tone.
“What am I to do,
Who am I to become?”
These lines made me think, they made me curious. Everyone wonders what they are going to become; if they’re going to live in a mansion or in a cardboard box on the streets. Being the first line in the poem, it was a unique way to start out. The poet wrote this in his teen years, which are the years that people begin to ponder what they'll make of their lives.
The tone of the poem was relaxed in a way, contemplative and curious. I’m guessing that the poet is reminiscing on how he began to search for himself, and how he has found who he really is. Like most of your poems, this one made me think. The tone is also questioning; the poet is questioning his future and what will become of him. In addition, I found the tone to be somewhat accepting and determined. When the poet says, “Still the taste of happiness, no, the smell of it, lures me” I believe he is going to do what it takes to achieve happiness.
“Still the taste of happiness,
No,
The smell of it, lures me.”
This line is an example of a metaphor. Happiness does not have a certain taste or smell. Rather, the poet is saying that every aspect of happiness attracts him to attain it. Like many- or possibly all people- we all want to be happy. We have our different interpretations of what happiness really is, but no one truly desires to be depressed or sorrowful. I believe what the poet is saying is he desires to achieve true success and joy so much that he will do anything to achieve it.
I agree with Someone when he/she says that this poem makes one think of how their life is going to be when they grow older. It truly does; most people at one point wonder how their life will turn out, especially as teenagers. With so much pressure to succeed from teachers, parents and just about everyone else, we can’t help but wonder what will become of us. Whether they’ll be satisfied or discontent with their lives when they get older, no one knows. As conveyed in this poem, the poet wants to achieve his goals, like many people.
I enjoyed reading this poem. It made me think about who I wanted to become, and how far I’m going to go in life. I’m certain of my dreams and goals, but this poem allowed me to think about the true meaning of happiness. The poet says, “And wake up smiling, because of who I was, then, because of who I am, now, because of who I found, me.” It’s difficult to find yourself in this world, maybe it’ll get easier as we become wise adults; but this poem allowed me to think on a whole different level, when it comes to knowing who I really am.
After reading this poem, it made me feel like going out and discovering my talents and what is to become of me in life. That is what the teenage years of life are about, discovering who or what you would like to become. Being young makes these times easier because almost everything is done and paid for us, so that we now have the luxury to go out and try to become an artist, a musician, or an author. And when we finally find that niche in life that fits our lifestyle and personality, you find the happiness that you looked for during the teenage years.
This is a really great poem. In such a small amount of words you've captured what it is like to be youth and feel like you can be anything you set your mind too.
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