| “The School Boy” by William Blake I love to rise in a summer morn, When the birds sing on every tree; The distant huntsman winds his horn, And the sky-lark sings with me. O! what sweet company. But to go to school in a summer morn, O! it drives all joy away; Under a cruel eye outworn. The little ones spend the day, In sighing and dismay. Ah! then at times I drooping sit, And spend many an anxious hour, Nor in my book can I take delight, Nor sit in learning bower, Worn thro’ with the dreary shower. How can the bird that is born for joy, Sit in a cage and sing. How can a child when fears annoy. But droop his tender wing. And forget his youthful spring. O! father & mother. if buds are nip’d, And blossoms blown away, And if the tender plants are strip’d Of their joy in the springing day, By sorrow and care’s dismay. How shall the summer arise in joy. Or the summer fruits appear. Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy Or bless the mellowing year. When the blasts of winter appear. | Analysis/why I picked this poem My essay incorporates the importance that I think creativity and imagination is for all students. My essays show the first time I was able to write creatively without a strict grading rubric, allowing me to write with all my possible imagination. This poem, “The School Boy”, by William Blake is about a young boy that goes to school. The young boy narrates his frustration with being spied on by authorities, not being able to have the freedom he wants like he does outside of school. He questions how a bird can enjoy singing in a cage while he is just anxious and takes no delight in the classwork he does. The poem overall shows how freedom is what should be provided instead of being confined by strict rules. It also is a critique of education in a classroom because the way that education in this poem is framed, shows that the boy’s creativity is being stripped away. This connects back to my essay since it shows how education takes away creativity and imagination of students just to follow strict confines that strips the child of what they want to do. A piece from my essay that conveyed the main idea of the poem: “When you think of high school English you probably think of trauma, a torture device if you will. You remember the endless random sheets of looseleaf piled in our folders or even the old books that never left the library before and the teacher decided today would be the day they do something new. We may be dramatic but English in high school always followed a strict and demanding curriculum with books that no one liked. It also was just endless essays that no one ever got a perfect score on.” |
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This is my portfolio showcasing all my assignments I did over the semester for ENG 101. When clicking each tab above, please scroll down, from the welcome page, to see the content. Thank you!
