Science Extra Credit Blog

The Wind Tapped
By: Emily Dickinson

The wind tapped like a tired man,
And like a host, "Come in,"
I boldly answered; entered then
My residence within

A rapid, footless guest,
To offer whom a chair
Were as impossible as hand
A sofa to the air.

No bone had he to bind him,
His speech was like the push
Of numerous humming-birds at once
From a superior bush.

His countenance a billow,
His fingers, if he pass,
Let go a music, as of tunes
Blown tremulous in glass.

He visited, still flitting;
Then, like a timid man,
Again he tapped--'t was flurriedly--
And I became alone.

The poem I chose to read was “The Wind Tapped” by Emily Dickinson. The type of weather discussed in this poem is the wind. Weather is used as personification in this poem, for example in the first line in the second stanza where it says, “A rapid, footless guest.” Some literary techniques that were used in this poem are personification, as I mentioned before, and similes. One example of a simile from the poem can be found in the second line in the third stanza, “His speech was like the push of numerous humming-birds at once from a superior bush.” I think that if this poem did not mention weather, it would not make sense because the whole poem involves weather and without it the poem would not be complete.
Dickinson’s poem does not really further my knowledge about the wind and weather in a scientific way. However, the way that the wind is personified and all that Dickinson writes about the wind almost being a friend to her, furthers my knowledge about how wind and weather can make you feel. The narrator in the poem treats the “tired man”, which is the wind, as a guest, and when the wind stops blowing and leaves, the poem ends “And I became alone” which shows how the narrator feels like there is almost an empty space and something is missing. I felt after reading “The Wind Tapped,” that the knowledge that Emily Dickinson has about the wind and about weather is how it can make you feel. Understanding this definitely did enhance the poem for me.

Class Response Blog #2

Clouds

In class we are learning about clouds. There are three basic types. Cumulus, cirrus and stratus clouds.

3 Interesting Facts Are...

* Cumulus clouds look like "piles of cotton balls."
* Stratus clouds turn into fog when they form close to the ground.
* Cirrus clouds are "feathery and fibrous."

In my opinion clouds are really cool. I never knew that they has special names for what they look like. I also never knew that cumulus clouds could produce thunderstorms when they are darker on the bottom. Overall, clouds are a very interesting subject to learn and study about.

Class Response Blog #1

Arctic Tale



In class we watched a movie called Arctic Tale that is about how walrus' and polar bears live and survive.

Three Interesting Facts Are...

* Walrus' are a very close family. They do everything together. Such as eating and swimming.
* When a mother polar bear has new baby bears they live in a snow hole for a while.
* The male polar bear is the enemy to the female polar bear and her children.

In my opinion this movie was really interesting. I learned how polar bears find food, who there enemy is, what walrus' do, how both polar bears and walrus' survive when things go wrong in their habitat and so much more. If you want to learn about walrus' and polar bears I would suggest that you watch this movie. Overall Arctic Tale as an awesome movie.