Poetry Outloud

                           I read the poems, "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns, "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman, "A Supermarket in California" by Allen Ginsberg, "Break of Day" by John Donne, and finally "Dancers Exercising" by Amy Clampitt. I enjoyed reading "A Red, Red Rose" mainly because it is such a well known poem that everyone has heard of and it is such a simply sweet poem. I also enjoyed "A Noiseless Patient Spider". I enjoyed that poem because it is, in my opinion, a complex poem, while being short and easy to comprehend. I say that is it complex, yet easy to understand because it is, again in my opinion, a lot of great ideals in a compact way, so you don't get lost.
                         I didn't like "A Supermarket in California" however. It was very extended, not in the length, but in the content. It seems to drag on and repeats its ideals. I also didn't like the content at all. It was boring and unappealing. I also didn't like "Break of Day" and "Dancers Exercising". Their titles seems appealing to me, but I was disappointed. They truly were not well written in my opinion. I could have not read them and went on with my life...just saying :p. They repeated themselves and their ideals weren't fully connected to the content of the poem as a whole. If I had to choose one of the poems I read today for Poetry Outloud I would chose "A Red, Red Rose". It is a simply sweet poem, as I previously stated, and puts into a good mode:). I truly enjoy it and will possibly chose it for Poetry Outloud, if that is possible.
                       The two criteria that will be hardest for me will be to relax and act natural followed by eye contact and avoiding nervous gestures. I have terrible stage fright and hate speaking/reciting things in front of a group of people. I will have an easy time with memorization and remembering line breaks. When I can focus alone I usually remember things very well. The scoring criteria mainly focuses on posture, memorization, and relaxing/projecting to the audience. If you understand and follow these guidelines then you will do very well in the competition.