Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Poetry Madness: Elite 8, Game 1

Image result for casey at batImage result for mother to son

Now that you have read through all of the poems and chosen a winner to advance to the Elite 8, the pressure has mounted. Read the winners of Game 1 and Game 3.
In Round 2, you need to choose your winner based on the following criteria:

  • Which poem's meaning is more important to you? 
  • What personal connection can you make? 
  • Which poet's craft do you enjoy more? Be sure to give examples.
  • Poet's craft can include the following:
  • repetition, imagery, personification, rhyme, alliteration, couplets, onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, etc.
 Make sure your answer is detailed and explains the three bullet points.
An example of an advanced proficient blog post is:


“Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me because it is talking about a woman who was probably a slave telling her boy that life isn't going to be easy but to not give up.


My connection is with the poem “Casey at the Bat.” I have been on a softball team before and struck out when my team really needed a hit.  I can imagine how the fans and the player feel when the game is over, and they do not win.

I like “Mother to Son's” writer’s craft more because it rhymes better and the way it is written sounds like the mother is from the South .For example, she says, "I'se been a-climbin' on" and "turnin' corners." I also enjoyed that the poem is a metaphor comparing life to a flight of stairs that is hard to climb.  The poet's mother encourages him to never give up but keep trying even though life is hard. “Mother to Son” should win this game.

35 comments:

  1. Mother to son means to me that when life is hard keep going. This reminds me of when I was at my basketball game and I was so tired, and I kept going on at the end my team won. I bet that these people are slaves and the mother is telling the son when the she is gone keep going.
    Casey at bat is about a baseball team that is about to win and they all count on Casey to hit idt out of the park but she strikes out. I know how she feels because this reminds me of when I was up at bat when bases were loaded and I hit a pop up and they caught it.
    I think Mother to Son should win because it teaches you life skills. It talks about how she struggled in her life and is telling her son not to do the same by not taking shortcuts, don’t do the wrong thing, and when everything seems lost keep going. I hope “Mother to Son” wins!

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  2. “Mother to Son” is about a mother talking to her son. She is telling him that life is not always perfect. She says, “Life ain't been no crystal staircase”. She means that sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't.

    “Casey at the Bat” is about a man who is playing baseball. He is known for his big hits. He gets very cocky when he goes up to bat, and then he strikes out.

    In my opinion, “Mother to Son” should be the winner. My mom tells me that life is not always going to be perfect. The writer uses a metaphor when the mother says that life is like a staircase that is hard to climb. That is why “Mother to Son” should win.

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  3. “Mother to Son” has a better meaning to me. I think that because a woman was telling her son about her life and how it was hard. And she told him to not give up.

    I make a connection with “Casey at the Bat” because right before my basketball game once, I saw a boy who was playing before me shooting free throws. His team was losing by one point. Before he shot, he was sorta showing of, and taking a long time before he was going to shoot the ball. He was doing all of this fancy stuff, trying to impress everyone. When he finally shot the ball, he missed it. I’m not sure if he was trying to show off, but it sort of looked like he was.

    I like the writer's craft in “Mother to Son” more. I like how the mother used metaphors to compare life to a flight of stairs that was hard to climb. I like how she tells her son that he shouldn’t give up.

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  4. I think that “Mother to Son” has more meaning because it is talking about how life is not easy. Which is very strong because life is meaningful, and that makes this poem so meaningful. It is also serious which is meaningful. It also has to never give up in the poem which I think is meaningful.

    My connection is with the poem “Mother to Son.” I have moved from one state to another, and my mom told me to never give up on life even if I have to do things I don’t want to. I can think that speech helped me because I am living in the new state, and I love it.

    I like “Mother to Son’s’ writer’s craft more because I like how it says as a metaphor “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” It also has alliteration by repeating “Life ain’t been no crystal stair.” I think this poem should win.

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  5. “Mother to Son’ has a more important meaning to me. Because the mom is telling her son that life hasn't been no crystal stair case.

    My connection with “Casey at the Bat” is when i'm at home playing baseball when I strike out it feels like your letting people down if I was in a real game i would feel bad if I striked out.

    I like “Mother to Son” more. Because it has a better meaning. It’s talking about a mother and a son talking about life. This poem I think also has a better writer’s craft. Like rhyme scheme ABCDE is the rhyme scheme for the first lines. And repetition of And. “Mother to Son” should win this game!

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  6. “Mother to Son’s” meaning is more important to me. The mother is telling her child that life is hard, but you shouldn’t give up. I think that the mother was most likely a slave, but she didn’t give up.

    My connection is that I like to play baseball in my backyard with my family. I once struck out, and it’s not very fun. It especially wouldn’t be fun if I was the reason we lost the game.

    I like “Mother to Son’s” writer’s craft becaus it uses metaphors and repetition. It uses metaphors when it says “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” That means that life has been hard for her, but she won’t give up. I can also tell she was from a long time ago because now, people don’t say, “I’se.” It uses repetition when it says, “And” three times. This is a great poem, and I think this should win!

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  7. “Mother to Son” In my opinion is better. It talks about a mother telling her son that her life wasn’t perfect, but his live may not be perfect. He should not give up.
    In “Mother to Son” when to the mom is talking to the boy at the end I think of the mother saying to the son,”Life is what you make of it”. This quote my mom has always told me and I try to live by it every day.
    I like “Mother to Sons” writers craft. It uses repetition when it says,”And” six times. The POV is Third person.

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  9. “Mother to Son” has a more important meaning for me because it is about a mother telling her son that even though life is hard and not perfect you shouldn’t give up. She tells her son life is not a crystal stair, instead it is hard and tough.

    My connection is to “Casey at the Bat.” I have played tennis before and hit the ball, but it went out. I am able to imagine how disappointed Casey and the fans were.

    I think “Mother to Son” should be the winner because it uses more writer’s craft. For example, the author uses repetition when he repeats “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” I like how the author made this poem a metaphor, comparing life to a crystal stair. “Mother to Son” is a great poem and I hope it will win.

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  10. I think “Mother to Son” has more meaning because she’s telling her son never to give up even through hard times.

    The connection I have with “Mother to Son” is when I was doing a 200 Free at a swim meet. During it I got tired, but I never gave up! I ended up dropping about 10 - 14 seconds, and I got 8th place overall!

    “Mother to Son” should be the winner because it is very meaning full. It also has a lot of repetition. There are also metaphors in it, for example, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” So I hope it wins, again!

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  11. “Mother to Son” is about a slave talking to her son. She told him life for us is no crystal stair. That means life is hard and scarce. It means something to me because my mom said something like that.

    My connection with the poem “Casey at the Bat.” I have played based ball and I missed the three time in row. And someone poured gatorade on my head.

    I like “Mother to Son.” is has more wrightes craft. “Casey at the Bat” has no meaning it just tries to make you laugh.

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  12. I think “Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me because it is about a mother telling her son that life isn’t going to work out like you want it to. Also, it is comparing life to a staircase that is very difficult to climb.

    I have a connection to “Mother to Son” because my mom says that life won’t go your way all the time. Also you can’t have everything that you want in your life.

    I like “Mother to Son’s” writers craft more because it rhymes better and it uses some words that people won’t use when they are writing a book or something. For example, “And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners. Also I like the way it used a metaphor when it says, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”

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  13. “Mother To Son” has more meaning to me because it talks about perseverance. You can also pull away that God has always been with her because she says she has kept walking when there has been no light, and that goes to show that the phrase, ¨When there is darkness, light,¨ is God speaking.

    I made a connection with Flynn in ¨Casey At The Bat¨ when I was on a baseball team last year and was on third, but the next person at bat struck out and we lost the game.

    In my opinion,¨Mother To Son¨ had better writer´s craft because of its rhythm and rhyme scheme. For example, it makes the mother use Slang to rhyme throughout the poem. I also like Southern moms, and the mom in this poem sounds Southern. I, in addition, think that meaning makes the poem so much better, and ¨Mother To Son¨ had just that. Lastly, ¨Mother To Son¨ had repetition of the sentence,¨Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.¨ This is a good poem and it should win!!


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  14. “Mother to Son” has a more important meaning to me, because it says to keep pushing and never give up. This poem speaks to me because I think this is a really good lesson. Plus, since this is the mother telling her son I think it makes all the more important.

    My connection is with the poem “Mother to Son” because my mother tells me to never give up. She tells me if you want something it won’t come to you, but you have to work for it. I think this might feel as I did. A extra surge of power flowing through him.

    I like “Mother to Son” writer’s craft, because the imagery when they say “life is no crystal stair, it’s had tacks, and splinters, and boards torn up, places with no carpet.” Also, when they say “Life ain’t been no crystal stair.” They use a metaphor. I think this boy is going to push and push ‘till his time is up.























































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  15. In my opinion “Mother to Son” has a better meaning because it is saying that a mother is telling her son about how tough her life was and to never give up.


    My connection with “Casey at the Bat” is when people get to cocky in sports. Also I know how it feels to mess up in sports and to lose the game.


    I like “Mother to Son” writer's craft because it uses imagery to help tell you that the mom is from the south. I also like the metaphor when she compares her life to crystal stairs.A

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  16. I think that “Mother to Son” has more meaning than “Casey at the Bat.” “Casey at the Bat,” is just an entertaining, but funny story. There is a big meaning in, “Mother to Son.” The meaning is too never, ever give up! I learned that if you keep persevering, and you never give up good things will come to you. I think that the mom is doing what God would do. The mom tells her child if you keep working hard the stairs won’t be crystal, but they won’t be tattered. God tells us to follow him and we will be rewarded. That is what “Mother to Son” is about.




    My connection is a connection to the poem, “Casey at the Bat.” I remember watching baseball games when the New York Yankees played against the Boston Red Sox. I would watch the whole game. The Yankees best players would hit it all the time. The Red Sox’s best players struck out a lot. All their fans were very angry with them because they had almost never beaten the Yankees. I didn’t feel sorry for the Red Sox’s players because I a a Yankee fan. I do feel sorry for the Yankee players when they strike out. That is my connection.


    I like “Mother to Son’s” writer’s craft a lot more than “Casey at the Bat’s” writer’s craft. “Mother to Son” has a great metaphor when the author compares life to a crystal stair. The author also uses repetition by repeating the “crystal stair” metaphor. I wish that the author had used onomatopoeia. I also wished that the author had a rhyme scheme and used couplets. “Mother to Son” was still the outright winner. I hope with all my heart that “Mother to Son” wins this matchup big a very, very, very big margin of defeat. Lets go “Mother to Son!”

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  17. “Casey at the Bat” has a more important meaning to me because it tells us that even if your the best player and you never lose you still have to be disciplined and not be cocky. Even though the other poem has a very good message, I can relate to this message more.

    My connection is with the poem “Casey at the Bat” because When I used to play baseball I wasn't very good , and the only thing I did was stand in the outfield. When I was up to hit I would strike out because I was bad. I also know how Casey feels at the end of the poem.

    I like “Casey at the Bat’s” writers craft more because it had a better rhyme scheme. For example, the first few lines of “Casey at the Bat’s” rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, and “Mother to Son’s” first few lines of the poem’s rhyme scheme is ABCDEF. Another reason why is because it was the only poem that used couplets. For example, one couplet was, “It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville nine that day; The score stood two to four with but one inning to play.” My final reason is because it used better alliteration. For example, one sentence was, “the score stood two to four.” I think this poem should win.




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  18. “Mother to Son” means more to me because of the message that it tells you. If life’s not going great just keep climbing.

    For my connection I’m choosing “Casey at the Bat” because I don’t like to strike out ever at all ether.

    I think the writers craft for “Mother to Son” was the best because of the way the author repeated “Life ain’t no crystal stair”. For those reasons I think "Mother to Son" should win.

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  19. The poem that means more to me is “Mother to Son,” because even though life may be hard you still have to live it. You may have to get surgery or something bad may happen like a loved one died. But you still have to live your life and enjoy it because it’s your first and last.

    I made a connection to “Casey at the Bat,” because I have played baseball and still do. One game we were down by one with the bases loaded. I was on a travel team but I’m not on that team anymore. I was up to bat with only one out it was the game after I hit a home run over the fence. Everyone was counting on me. Then I heard strike three and I was out. I was not happy and would like to have it back. But the next batter was my friend named Michael Holt and he hit a double and we won.

    I like “Mother to Son’s,” writer’s craft a lot. It uses repetition and rhyme scheme. It uses repetition when it says
    And reachin’ landin’s,
    And turnin’ corners,
    And sometimes goin’in the dark.
    The rhyme scheme in “Mother to Son,” is ABCDEF. I think the winner is “Mother to Son,” all the way.

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  21. “Mother to Son” has a more important meaning because it is about a mother telling her son that even though life is hard and not perfect you shouldn’t give up.

    My connection with “Casey at the Bat” is when people get to cocky in sports. Also I know how it feels to mess up in sports and to lose the game.

    I think that "Mother to Son" should win because of the writers craft

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  22. "Mother to Son" meaning is more important to me than "Casey at Bat". The reason I think this is because the mother is telling her son about how life is not perfect but you just have to be the right person and keep strong.

    My connection to "Casey at Bat" is one time when I was at a gymnastics meet I got a bad score and then our team did not place for team awards. I felt like I let everyone down and that is how Casey felt when he striked out.

    In my opinion I think that "Mother to Son" has better writers craft. I like the repetition of And, and also "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair."I also like the way it made the mom sound like she was country.

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  23. The poem that shows most meaning to me is “Mother to Son” because it shows that life is not easy, but you still have to keep going. I also like this poem because it shows that life is meaningful.

    I had a connection with “Casey at the Bat” because one time at soccer I missed a goal that I should not have, but I still keep going


    I like “Mother to Sons” writer’s craft more because it rhymes more. For example it says “But all the time I’se been climbin on.

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  24. “Mother to Son” has a stronger meaning to me because she has probably been through a lot. My connection with “Mother to Son” is that my family has been through a lot. I like how it uses a metaphor “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” It also uses repetition it says “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” A the beginning and end.



    I think “Mother to Son”nis the winner.




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  25. Casey at bat means more to me.

    I play baseball and I do strikeout when our team needs a hit.

    I liked the rhyme scheme AABB.

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  26. The poem, “Mother to Son,” is more important to me because this poem can teach that if you are in a hard situation fight through it and don’t give up. The second reason this poem is more important to me because life is not a crystal stair, and this poem also says that statement. Lastly, I chose this poem because it is telling about someones life possibly in slavery.

    I can make a personal connection with the poem” Casey at the Bat” because at the end ofthe poem when he struck out. I once had the last shot of the game to tie the game up, but I missed the. Like Casey, I was really mad and annoyed that I messed up.

    I like the poet’s craft in the poem,¨Mother to Son,¨because it has imagery. I can see pictures in my mind of a grown and strong women talking to her son. Second, I like how this poem has repetition. This poem keeps on having lines that start with ¨and.¨Lastly, I think the poem, ¨Mother to Son,¨ should advance on in this round.


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  27. “Life doesn't frighten me at all” made me realize that you shouldn’t be afraid of life you should love it. It would definitely be in my top 3 poems that I have read. I would recommend this poem to anybody who needed a poem to read.

    My connection with choosing shoes is how I like a lot of shoes if I see a shoe I want it. It is hard to pick out shoes when you want all of them. I would love to read this poem again and keep it in my room.

    I my opinion “choosing shoes” is the winner because I can relate to it and it seems like something I would do. It used a lot of repetition. For example, shoes is repeated a lot. This is a great poem and is my first choice.

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  28. “Casey at the Bat,” is telling me that everybody is not perfect. Like when Casey struck out at the end to win the game. This tells me that everybody isn’t perfect neither is Casey.
    “Mother to Son,” I have a connection with because life is not ever complete. Just like climbing and you fall. Last weekend I lost my basketball tournament and that’s part of life and I felt incomplete because we won the last two years.
    I liked “Casey at the Bat,” because of the writer’s craft and the situation and the solution were my favorite part. It uses different accents and rhymes in it. The rhyme scheme is AABB. This poem also uses imagery when they lose and throughout the poum

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  29. Mother to Son” says something to me because sometimes I have felt run down and need encouraging. The mother tells her son in the poem that life for he hasn't been a crystal stair.
    I can make a connection to “Casey at the Bat” though I have never felt mad or disappointed about a baseball game I can still connect through basketball.
    In my opinion “Mother to Son” should win this round because it has a deeper meaning. It also has a valuable meaning in it. Also, I just don’t like what the author of “Casey at the Bat” wrote about.

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  30. “Mother to Son” has more meaning to me in my opinion. It is about a mother talking about life and how it has not been such a crystal stair. The lesson is that life isn’t perfect, but keep trying. I think I need to think about that too!

    My connection is with “Casey at Bat.” One day when I was playing ice hockey in a championship game, I was going to shoot in the shootout. (A shootout is when one player gets one shot to score with no defense against the goalie) When the referee blew the whistle, I started skating with the puck. I started swerving to the right and was coming right for the goalie. I faked to shoot the puck and moved the puck to my backhand and shot it. The goalie saved it and we lost. I felt like I let my team down like Casey did with his team.

    I like “Casey at Bat’s” writer's craft. It’s rhyme scheme is AABB. It makes the poem seem a little better.

    I think “Casey at Bat” is the winner!

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  31. “Mother to Son” is more touching because I love folk tales. My family has a book that has folktales so the way she talks is nice. She is also very encouraging about how you need to keep on going even in hard times.
    “Casey at Bat” is something I can relate to. I am bad at baseball so I struck out a lot. The first time I ever hit I got hit with the ball in 2nd grade.
    I choose “Mother to Son” because I love the way she is talking. Second I love that she is saying life ain’t no crystal stair.

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  32. “Mother to Son” was more meaningful in my opinion because I liked that it was talking about how life is not easy it will be a challenge
    .
    My connection to “Mother to Son” is for when I had a hard test. The test was hard, but I pushed though it and finished it.

    “Mother to Son” is my winner. I liked it better because uses imagery. I imagine the pictures in my mind of a strong mother talking to her son. Also, I like how used “Mother to Son” repetition. It used repetition because it would started lines with and 6 times. I hope “Mother to Son” wins game 1.

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  33. “Mother To Son” has a better meaning to me because it talks about what will probably happen in life.

    I have a better connection with “Casey At Bat” because I have lost a game before, so I felt really sad.

    I enjoy “Casey At Bat” more because it’s really exciting. It uses rhyme scheme, repetition.




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  34. The first poem I read was“Casey at the bat”about a strong man who strikes out at the plate when his team really needed a hit. I can relate to this poem when I play baseball and my team needed a hit, but I struck out. This poem used metaphors like, “ the yell rumbled in the mountaintops”. I liked how this poem was formated.

    The second poem I read was “Mother to son”, this poem is about a mother telling her son how life is not easy, and to never give up. I think that this poem has a more important meaning when they talk about even if life is hard and disappointing, to never give up. This poem used imagery, for example when the mother added in tacks and bare floors to the crystal stair, I could imagene it in my head. I enjoyed reading this poem.

    I think the winner should be “Mother to son”, because it has a more important meaning to me, it also uses metaphors like, “ life for me ain't been no crystal stair, It also uses rhyme scheme, the rhyme scheme for it is ABCD, I hope this poem wins!

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  35. The first poem I read was” Life Doesn’t Frighten Me.”It is about a person telling us that know matter what life does not frighten him/her.




    THe second poem I read was “Casey at the Bat.” It is about a baseball player who most everybody loved started missing the ball and after that no one liked him.


    I thank the winner is “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me.” I like how much detail there is. The rhythm scheme for the first four lines are AABB.

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